Ruth,

New York City was once all one telephone area. Phone numbers included names
and 5 numbers, and who ever dialed an area code? No place outside the city
would be worth calling anyway, in a true New Yorker's view, because there
was nobody and nothing of import or interest beyond the city line. Local
calls could go on forever. There was no need for any longer distance than
from Brooklyn to Uncle Jerry in the Bronx.

When I graduated from college I only considered job offers from New York-
based employers. That was a viable plan until my employer, the Gypsum mill
in Staten Island completed their 5-year 24/7 run of sheetrock for the World
Trade Center in '73, the Arabs turned off the oil in an attempt o control US
foreign policy, leading to tripling of fuel costs, leading to the closing of
the mill and leading to my transfer to the Trans-Hudson wastelands of
Philadelphia. My grandmother was incredulous, asking me "How can you leave
New York? There'll be nothing to eat".

Mike E.
---------- Original Message -----------
From: Ruth Barton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 22:19:00 -0700
Subject: Re: Dartmouth and wages

> Yes, but how many phone bills did your father make you pay?  Ruth
>
> At 2:19 PM -0500 9/18/03, edison wrote:
> >Ditto on the $1.65 starting wage, from which I had the privilege of
paying 2
> >bucks a week in mandatory union dues. I delivered telegrams by bicycle in
> >New York. No overtime, but I could live on the tips.
> >

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